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Three months ago German voters rejected the colorless status quo. The two traditional governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD), hemorrhaged votes, together barely collecting half the total, which was down two-thirds from four years before.

The other day we learned that there are four times more U.S. troops in Syria than any earlier official figure had acknowledged. The discrepancy did not get much public attention, perhaps because the numbers are small compared to some other U.S.

The leadership of the U.S. Army is on a mission to radically alter the way it does acquisition and sustainment. Published reports regarding this reform effort have focused largely on the creation of eight pilot cross functional teams (CFTs) intended to improve the speed and effectiveness of generation process requirements. These CFTs have been described as the first step towards the creation of a modernization command.

Would the capture of Moscow have altered the outcome of World War II? Losing their capital has often led nations to seek peace. Moscow was more than the administrative capital of the Soviet Union: it was also a vital rail hub and production center. There was also the symbolic value: totalitarian dictators, like Hitler and Stalin, crafted images of themselves as all-knowing leaders of their nations. Losing Moscow would certainly have dented popular confidence in Stalin. In fact, Stalin apparently did put out discreet peace feelers to Germany through Sweden, which Hitler ignored.

While Marine Corps F-35B aircraft have been deployed to Japan for months, this new deployment is the first US Pacific Command operational tasking for the Air Forces’ F-35A; it is designed to build upon the F-35s debut in the Indo-Asia-Pacific at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition earlier in November, service officials said.